1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to content delivery, and more specifically to a system and method for improved content delivery over a communication channel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Advances in the electronics industry have enabled contemporary society to enjoy numerous electronic content devices that help to make our lives more productive, more comfortable, and more efficient. Such devices include, for example, notebook computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, computer printers, DVD recorders/players, MP3 players, digital cameras, scanners, camcorders, and a multitude of other portable electronic content devices.
Many of these electronic content devices can be utilized to provide some form of media content to the user. For example, current digital camera offerings afford users the ability to capture still and motion images, many with the ability to capture sound as well. Digital cameras, as well as other electronic content devices including as those mentioned above, provide users with the option of downloading and storing the captured content onto their personal computing device. Many users, even those who do not consider themselves to be computer savvy, regularly create and store content on their computers. Most of these users even e-mail such content to friends, family, coworkers and others.
Since the introduction of these electronic content devices, their popularity has been ever increasing. For example, it is estimate that over 100 million digital cameras were sold in the 2003-2004 timeframe. Thanks at least in part to Moore's Law, these devices are now able to capture content at a faster rate and at higher levels of quality. For example, when first introduced, early digital cameras captured images with image sensors having 640×480 resolution or less. Today, consumer-grade digital cameras can be found with four to six megapixel image sensors at affordable price points. The prosumer market is flush with six to eight megapixel cameras, and the professional market offers 12 megapixels on up. To top it off, these numbers are not stagnant, but instead are increasing rapidly.
To maximize use of these electronic content devices, it is often desirable that users have the ability to share content among devices or with other users. Following the above-described example of digital cameras, it is widely believed that the primary reason the majority of users take photographs and movies (digital or otherwise) is to preserve the memories captured in the content. Of course, other reasons for capturing content on cameras and other electronic content devices include capturing the content for artistic purposes, as a hobby, for entertainment, for business and professional uses, and so on.
Regardless of the reason for capturing the content, however, it is almost always the case that users wish to share the captured content with others. With digital images, for example, users often wish to e-mail these images to friends, family, co-workers or other users. Unfortunately, while advances in technology have led to higher quality images, they have also led to larger file sizes. This has led to scenarios where demand for communication bandwidth is outpacing the availability of increased bandwidth. Even with currently available compression techniques, still images, for example, commonly range in size from 500 kilobytes to three or four megabytes, and sometimes larger. Compounding the problem, users typically want to send multiple files in a single communication.
Not only is the bandwidth of the communication channel a consideration, but also the constraints imposed by other infrastructure elements. For example, with e-mail communications, constraints of the e-mail server, limitations set by the internet service provider, and other limitations can impede the ability of users to share content as desired. As a result, many email messages remain undelivered due to the large size of the one or more attachments included with the message.